First Ride: 2016 Specialized Allez Sprint

Specialized’s new redesigned Allez frame will change the way you look at aluminum.

The material has taken a back seat to carbon fiber in recent years but is slowly making a comeback. In Specialized’s 2016 line, new technology has brought some of the characteristics of the carbon fiber Tarmac down to the aluminum Allez for a truly impressive performance-to-dollar ratio. The company has taken this category seriously with its Allez line and the 2015 Comp Race model really impressed. This new 2016 Allez builds on the current model’s strengths and fixes its weakness. It’s now as stiff at the headtube and even stiffer at the bottom bracket than a Tarmac, and more aerodynamic than the current Allez thanks to some development time in the wind tunnel.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

The massive bottom bracket features a new brazed construction technique and Smartweld technology.

Andy Bokanev

One glance at the new Allez's bottom bracket area is all it takes to know that something is very different about this bike. The bottom bracket shell is massive and required a unique process to build. The bottom bracket structure looks like it is one piece, but it’s actually made up of three individual pieces brazed together. When the pieces are put in an oven and heated, the temperature is set below the melting point of aluminum—but hot enough to melt the aluminum brazing material that bonds it together. The resulting structure is strong, light, and stiff, with an outward look not unlike that of a carbon race bike.

The bottom bracket structure joins the down tube and seat tube with the same Smartweld process previously used only at the head tube. This process has many advantages over traditionally welded tubes. For one, both ends of the tube and BB shell are rolled where they meet, which gives them structural integrity. Chuck Teixeira, Specialized's aluminum guru and senior advanced R&D engineer, compares the difference to an aluminum can cut in half: The cut ends would be easy to flex and not very stiff, but if you roll those ends over, it suddenly gets much more rigid with little weight gain. Smartweld also moves the weld area away from the tight confines of the tube junction to where it’s physically easier to weld, and creates a channel for the weld bead to sit in. All of this adds up to consistently quality welds.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Smartweld and this new brazing technique are used only in the Allez road line for now, but Teixeira says he wants to get it into as many platforms as possible. That means that we could conceivably see mountain or tri bikes benefiting from these technologies in the future.

All that time spent in Specialized’s wind tunnel also means the new Allez is more aero than its predecessor. It now has an aero seat tube and narrower head tube, thanks to smaller bearing cup inserts and dropped seatstays on the seat tube. The seatstay drop is not only more aero, but also increases compliance by about the same amount that the aero seatpost and seat tube increase stiffness—meaning that the ride quality should in theory be about the same.

Specialized also used its Rider-First ride tuned philosophy on the Allez—the same concept used on the Tarmac. There are three different-sized top and down tubes that vary by frame size for a more finely-tuned ride. Three different head tubes and forks borrowed directly from the Tarmac will utilize different bearing diameters that vary by frame size on the bikes, too. This design keeps small riders from feeling beat up by a super-stiff bike, and large riders from getting a soft, flexy-feeling frame.

I rode a preproduction Allez Sprint in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which gave me a good feel for what’s to come. I had been riding the current Allez Comp Race earlier that week and the difference in frame stiffness was immediately apparent—and so was the fact that this is a very different-feeling bike. That softness I felt at the bottom bracket on the Comp Race was replaced with the rock-solid sensation you get from the Tarmac. The claims that stiffness is on par with the Tarmac seem to be accurate—I couldn’t make it budge. Tall 52x11-27t gearing also meant I really had to get out of the saddle and work hard on the climbs.

Handling, as with that of the Tarmac, felt sharp and accurate. Torsional frame stiffness from front to back is superb, so there’s no tendency to load up in a turn and spring out at the exit in a unpredictable manner. Between the frame stiffness and dialed geometry, I was able to bomb down an unfamiliar high-speed twisty descent with a surprising level of confidence.

Ride quality was very similar to the current Allez, and that’s pretty good—rigid in a sporty kind of way, but not overly harsh. This bike had different wheels and tires than the version I usually ride, so it’s not really a direct comparison, but I enjoyed the sensations the Allez transferred from the road.

The Allez Sprint will be offered as a frameset and in two different SRAM complete builds as a criterium-specific 1x bike by the end of the month. Another month later, traditional 2x versions with front derailleurs will be offered as well. Pricing is yet to be determined. We are receiving a test bike, though, so keep your eyes peeled for our in-depth review.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Bicycling participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.